I'm so over Quicken subscription!!##??/..

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I've been with Quicken since the 1990's with very few problems over that time and have been extremely happy with it and usually upgraded every three years or so. This year I was forced onto the subscription version and it has been a friggin nightmare. Every month something else seems to go wrong. Eventually they get fixed in a future update but this most recent problem is alarming to day the least. When I went to reconcile my credit card card about a week ago it wouldn't balance. I checked it against the statement, everything was exactly he same but it still would not balance, it was off by 600+ dollars. I closed it, figuring I must be doing some thing wrong. A couple of days later opened it up again and same thing, I had saved my work. i went online and set up the credit card payment. A couple of hours later back I went and I notice the difference had changed, it was now down to about $80 so I closed and reopened Quicken went back again and voila it balanced. It's like quicken is not adding numbers up correctly. Now I cant record the payment I made, Quicken simply won't accept it in either the credit card or the bank account screen. When I hit enter it jumps to the very first credit card transaction in the file from 2000. I've entered this payment 3 or 4 times over the past few days I've searched for the amount and can't find it, but when i did my download today, the quicken and bank online balances agree., the payment I made is still pending. I think I need to start a new file, has anyone else had similar problems and if so how did you fix it, I don't want to call them if I can possibly help it.
Thanks

 

[pb4uski]

Similar here... longtime Quicken user who previously would upgrade every 3 or so years but am now on the subscription version.

I've noticed some good and some bad. Previous to the subscription version, I woudl occasionally get locked and only solution was to end task the program, or sometimes even a PC restart. That problem seems to go away.

Now I get a different problem similar to yours where Quicken didn't add correctly... most noticeably on the projected balances page which I use to monitor the funding of our main checking account. But that problem has also seemed to disappear recently too, so all is good right now.

 

[24601NoMore]

I've also been using Quicken for what seems like forever, but have been able to stay on the 2018 "non" subscription version.

For those who don't already know, you should still be able to use the 2018 or earlier versions - and that's been relatively stable all in all, though there are always at least 'some' issues with pretty much every version of Quicken in recent years..

 

[wanaberetiree]

Same here, using it since early 90s

The problem is - I could not find anything better or learning curve would be too steep.

The way I manage it - backups and using QW on two computers. That allows me to see and workaround the problems more easily.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Pretty scary when you Quicken can't add, maybe I'm not as wealthy as I think I am
I seriously doubt that I will subscribe once this year is up, I need to find something else. The Personal Capital commercial just ran on TV, I will be looking at that.
I'm also going to check my Windows PC and try a new start just in case it's a hard drive error.
I'll validate the file and hopefully that fixes it then save that file and open a new one for this years transactions only, mine does go back 20 years but the file itself is quite small, we had a thread on that last year.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Another thing that's driving me crazy is that I keep getting texts that I accessed one of my banks that has my IRA CD's. I've called the bank numerous times and it's Quicken going in every Wednesday overnight. I changed the password but did not update Quicken and it's still happening. Bank says that Quicken is not getting in but I keep getting the text. I did not remove it from online banking but will today. Quicken did something weird with passwords 2 months ago and Express Web Connect and I don't like it, they have a third party involved. I think i will go back to Quicken direct connect, that was never a problem.

 

[timbervest]

One thing I notice has changed and I cannot seem to change it back is when I downloaded transactions (like from Schwab, my bank, credit card) I used to get a list of transactions at the bottom that I could choose to accept or not. That has disappeared and now I get the transaction inputted with the little blue dot at the left. Is this a setting I have to change?

 

[OldShooter]

The magic of subscription software is that it decouples revenue from R&D and maintenance costs. When revenue depended on selling upgrades then investment was necessary. Now? No.

It's been my understanding that older versions of Quicken are deliberately crippled, specifically to kill online bank account access.

My horror story was for most of November the Quicken interface to Schwab was broken. It took several weeks to fix it and the Quicken support tech told me that all Schwab customers were locked out. True or not I don't know but I was locked out.

I would love to escape but I have close to 30 years of data and the MoneyDance import tool choked when I tried it a couple of year ago. I spent a couple of days trying to manually fix problems, mostly duplicated transactions on inter-account transfers, but finally gave up. I'll probably give it another try in the next year or so.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

One thing I notice has changed and I cannot seem to change it back is when I downloaded transactions (like from Schwab, my bank, credit card) I used to get a list of transactions at the bottom that I could choose to accept or not. That has disappeared and now I get the transaction inputted with the little blue dot at the left. Is this a setting I have to change?

Yes, that is a setting.
https://www.quicken.com/support/downloaded-transactions-preferences

That reminds me of another issue that seems to have finally been fixed. The matching was all messed up and it would download the same transactions three or 4 times and keep trying to match to an old transaction that had already cleared, something to do with a download ID they added to make it easier, needless to say it didn't....

 

[wanaberetiree]

I highly doubt that changing from one application to another will fix the problem.
Our financials are very complex and to expect that an application that won't break due to its own issues or unrelated, e.g. Schwab, Fido etc is unrealistic in my opinion.

More important to me is:

- how do I deal with problems?
- how Quicken deals with problems?

I must admit that Quicken is not so bad even with problems.

Other solutions, like Personal Capital are not apples to apples.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

The magic of subscription software is that it decouples revenue from R&D and maintenance costs. When revenue depended on selling upgrades then investment was necessary. Now? No.

It's been my understanding that older versions of Quicken are deliberately crippled, specifically to kill online bank account access.

My horror story was for most of November the Quicken interface to Schwab was broken. It took several weeks to fix it and the Quicken support tech told me that all Schwab customers were locked out. True or not I don't know but I was locked out.

I would love to escape but I have close to 30 years of data and the MoneyDance import tool choked when I tried it a couple of year ago. I spent a couple of days trying to manually fix problems, mostly duplicated transactions on inter-account transfers, but finally gave up. I'll probably give it another try in the next year or so.

Yes, I saw that Schwab issue when I was googling this morning trying to fix my problem. They're trying to make it better and screwing everything up in the attempt.
This morning a full size window about foreign currency conversion popped up and it took me ages to figure out how to grab the corner to make it smaller so i could close it. I know it's going to be hard to replace the program, I tried last year and finally decide to give them another year because they are the best but I never imagined the problems that I've had with this version. I don't mind paying, I just want something that will work well.

 

[wanaberetiree]

Yes, I saw that Schwab issue when I was googling this morning trying to fix my problem. They're trying to make it better and screwing everything up in the attempt.

Here is an example for your consideration.
I linked external accounts in Vanguard and use its Portfolio Watch tool for AA analysis.

Vanguard was not able to link Fido accounts for several months claiming Fido's internal issues.

What do I do ?

 

[bobandsherry]

I highly doubt that changing from one application to another will fix the problem.
Our financials are very complex and to expect that an application that won't break due to its own issues or unrelated, e.g. Schwab, Fido etc is unrealistic in my opinion.

More important to me is:

- how do I deal with problems?
- how Quicken deals with problems?

I must admit that Quicken is not so bad even with problems.

Other solutions, like Personal Capital are not apples to apples.

Agree with you. Am I 100% happy with Quicken. Nah. But I'm probably pretty close to 95%. I've looked, tried other packages and found nothing that offered what Quicken does. If all someone wants is to consolidate their balances then other options. But nothing that brings all the features I use together.

I wait for deals to pop up and buy my subscription at a discount. Last sub was bought on eBay.

I'm sticking with it.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I am a non-power-user of subscription Quicken for Mac. I did NOT want to go to the subscription model, but I couldn't find a better alternative. I milked my 2017 until near the end (when they would stop downloads). However, I must say that I haven't found any reason to complain about the new Quicken. There are even a few new features I like.

 

[timbervest]

Yes, that is a setting.
https://www.quicken.com/support/downloaded-transactions-preferences
.

Thanks. This is what I love about the internet . . . you have a question, you ask it, and (most of the time) you get an easy solution since someone else has encountered it already -- rather than having to traipse through FAQ's or deal with tech support

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I understand your point. Luckily (or not) my needs are not that complicated. At this time most of my money is earning 3.5-4.2% in long term bank CDS's and I still have a couple of years left on the terms. After they mature, I'm sure the rates will drop considerably and at that time I will have to make some reinvestment decisions and a lot to learn if I'm going into the stock market. At this time, all I want is a program that downloads my transactions from my banks when I request it, reconciles my credit cards and that's about it. I manually take care of my online banking payments and have no accounts with Schawb, Vanguard or any of the others. Every so often I think maybe I should invest some money in the market but I'm extremely risk averse. Actually I just remembered I do have a tiny little account with Acorns that I started earlier this year and when it goes down a dollar, it ruins my whole day Quicken does not support Acorns at this time and I don't care, it's not that much money.

 

[WhiskeyJack]

I wait for deals to pop up and buy my subscription at a discount. Last sub was bought on eBay.

I'm sticking with it.

Long time Quicken user here as well. However this is the first time I have had to renew my subscription. I bought a discounted retail download from Office Max. I entered the Application Key into Quicken and got the message that this Key is for new users only.

After researching I still am not certain how an existing member can renew with a discounted membership. Everything seems to point me to Quicken.com and buying at full retail price.

I did let my subscription expire before entering the new Key. I think that might be the issue. Maybe I needed to do this before expiration. Anybody have thoughts on this?

Thanks

 

[Montecfo]

I bought a cheapo renewal at newegg or someplace. Installed it after old one stopped working. No problems. I think it is annual now. I should check. This was earlier this year.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Agree with you. Am I 100% happy with Quicken. Nah. But I'm probably pretty close to 95%. I've looked, tried other packages and found nothing that offered what Quicken does. If all someone wants is to consolidate their balances then other options. But nothing that brings all the features I use together.

I wait for deals to pop up and buy my subscription at a discount. Last sub was bought on eBay.

I'm sticking with it.

I also bought on EBAY earlier this year after reading your post, I think I paid $12 at the time, it was really cheap. I then went to the Quicken website and download the software as you suggested and then entered the product key, it was that easy.

 

[calmloki]

We upgraded some years back - to Quicken 2006. Granted, we don't download anything from brokerages, but it seems to add and subtract well. Sometimes it is good not to be familiar with everything that is possible - that way you hardly miss it at all.

 

[Jerry1]

We upgraded some years back - to Quicken 2006. Granted, we don't download anything from brokerages, but it seems to add and subtract well. Sometimes it is good not to be familiar with everything that is possible - that way you hardly miss it at all.

Yeah, we’re riding our last version (2016 I think) as long as possible. Given the information in this thread, I’m glad I don’t have to download transactions. If Quicken ever give out, I my just go to a spreadsheet. Though, I’ve use Quicken for years and will miss it. I just can’t justify the subscription for my needs.

I just bought a version of Office that doesn’t require a subscription. Hopefully I can ride that for a decade like I did the last version I had. Again, I use so little of the functionality that it’s just not worth a subscription.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Long time Quicken user here as well. However this is the first time I have had to renew my subscription. I bought a discounted retail download from Office Max. I entered the Application Key into Quicken and got the message that this Key is for new users only.

After researching I still am not certain how an existing member can renew with a discounted membership. Everything seems to point me to Quicken.com and buying at full retail price.

I did let my subscription expire before entering the new Key. I think that might be the issue. Maybe I needed to do this before expiration. Anybody have thoughts on this?

Thanks

My Quicken 2017 was still working when i installed the subscription version earlier this year so can't answer your question. The bottom line though is that you bought and paid for a new subscription so try calling quicken and see if they can fix it for you. I bought mine on EBAY for $12. Did not use the CD in the package but downloaded from the Quicken website just to be safe then entered the activation code that came in the box.

 

[audreyh1]

I have been limping along with Quicken 2007 MacOS version for years, because Intuit, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the Mac no longer mattered and stopped developing the very complete, highly functional Mac version. There were the very occasional bug fixes over the years - like one every 4 or 5 years. But otherwise no support. On the good side I never had to deal with expiring download limits.

This year I started to run into more serious issues. The main one was that transaction downloads from Fidelity suddenly stopped working. Thankfully importing qfx files still works after I OK an error message. Supposedly there was some security change that made downloading transactions directly from the institutions no longer compatible. It’s painful not being able to download Fidelity transactions but I was never comfortable logging into the direct download window anyway, and I wish Fidelity would provide qfx files like almost all my other financial institutions do.

Given the reports here sounds like I’m no worse off than folks who have the latest! I guess that old make me very leery of changing to new Quicken software.

I have to say that I am very dependent on Quicken at this point. I have a huge number of customized reports that I use often, I use the scheduled transactions heavily, I have way too many accounts and Quicken keeps me straight. Obviously I need to simplify, and I will, but it’s a gradual process that will probably take me to 75.

 

[Ronstar]

Long time Quicken user also - about 20 years. Now on subscription. I have some issues with the subscription version, but not as bad as those of OP. I used to track all expenses and portfolio balances.


I now only use it to monitor checking and credit card transactions. I don't categorize anymore. I use Apple numbers to monitor portfolio. I will probably make a Numbers file to take over the Quicken duties and not renew my subscription.

 

[rk911]

like most on the thread we've been using Quicken for as long as i can remember. we've been doing the subscription thing for a couple of years now. none of our institutions are linked. i have numerous categories and tags so i enter everything manually. but i do a weekly update of the share prices of our mutual funds. about the only problem i've had is certain entries that have been reconciled keep popping back up as unreconciled every 2 or 3 months.